Chorazin, is the biblical site identified as the modern-day village of Karraza. It was an ancient village in the Korazim Plateau in the Galilee, two and a half miles from Capernaum on a hill above the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
History
Chorazin, along with Bethsaida and Capernaum, was named in the gospels of Matthew and Luke as "cities" in which Jesus performed mighty works. However, because these towns rejected his work, they were subsequently cursed. The gospels make no other mention of Chorazin or what works had occurred there. Due to the condemnation of Jesus, the influential Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius predicted that the Antichrist would be conceived in Chorazin. The Babylonian Talmud mentions that Chorazin was a town known for its grain. Two settlement phases have been proposed based on coin and pottery findings. Theologian John Lightfoot suggested that Chorazin might have been an area around Cana in Galilee, rather than a single city/village:
Archaeology
In his expeditions to the Holy Land in the nineteenth century, Edward Robinson questioned local residents about the whereabouts of a site matching the description of Chorazin, but no one recognized the name or could provide any information. Chorazin is now the site of a National Archaeological Park. Extensive excavations and a survey were carried out in 1962-1964. Excavations at the site were resumed in 1980-1987. The majority of the structures are made from black basalt, a volcanic rock found locally. The main settlement dates to the 3rd and 4th centuries. A mikvah, or ritual bath, was also found at the site. The handful of olive millstones used in olive oil extraction found suggest a reliance on the olive for economic purposes, like a number of other villages in ancient Galilee. The town's ruins are spread over an area of, subdivided into five separate quarters, with a synagogue in the centre. The large, impressive Synagogue which was built with black basalt stones and decorated with Jewish motifs is the most striking survival. Close by is a ritual bath, surrounded by public and residential buildings. In 1926, archaeologists discovered the "Seat of Moses," carved from a basalt block. According to the New Testament, this is where the reader of the Torah sat. In May–June 2004, a small-scale salvage excavation was conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority along the route of an ancient road north of Moshav Amnun. In the literature, the road is referred to as “The Way through Korazim.” It crossed the Chorazin plateau from west to east, branching off from the main Cairo–Damascus road that ran northeast toward Daughters of Jacob Bridge.
Synagogues
The only synagogue visible today was built in the late 3rd century, destroyed in the 4th century, and rebuilt in the 6th century. An unusual feature in an ancient synagogue is the presence of three-dimensional sculpture, a pair of stone lions. A similar pair of three-dimensional lions was found in the synagogue at Kfar Bar'am. Other carvings, which are thought to have originally been brightly painted, feature images of wine-making, animals, a Medusa, an armed soldier, and an eagle. Jacob Ory, who excavated the site in 1926 on behalf of the British Mandate Department of Antiquities, wrote about a second synagogue ca. 200 m west of the first one, and he described it in detail. Later excavations, however, have not been able to find the remains noted by him.
Geomorphology
The term Korazim Plateau is used to define a geomorphological feature set between the Hula Basin and the Sea of Galilee. It is an elevated pressure-ridge within the Dead Sea Transform which acted as a barrier towards the waters of the Mediterranean when these flooded the lower-laying part of the DST, between what are now the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Seabasins, during the Pliocenetransgression. The Korazim block as well as the higher elevation of the Hula Basin meant that the latter did not receive any marine water during that process.
